As long as I can remember, art class was always my favorite class in school. One of my favorite activities in art class would be field trips to art museums.
Visiting the Musée du Louvre on this backpacking adventure was hands down the greatest field trip to an art museum ever!
The Louvre truly was as breathtaking as I ever imagined and more. Simply incomprehensible until seen in person, and then still overwhelming.
Cameras, thankfully, were allowed inside, however, of course, no flashes and no tripods were allowed.
The Louvre did not disappoint!
Tourists come face to face with the Mona Lisa.
My Photographs from today
The Louvre
Day 23 / 9-29-94
Paris, France
Construction began on the Louvre in the 12th Century under Philip II. Remnants of the Medieval Louvre fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to urban expansion, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function, and in 1546 Francis I converted it into the primary residence of the French kings.
In 1682, King Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces.
The museum opened in 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed from 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon.
The Musée du Louvre contains approximately 500,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight departments with more than 652,000 sq ft dedicated to the permanent collection. It is the world’s largest museum.
From the moment I spotted the famous glass pyramid that leads to the entrance to the final moments before it closed and I had to leave, each room left me more in awe than the previous.
It is impossible to see the entire museum in one week, so with only a couple of hours to explore, it felt like I was almost running to the pieces I wanted to see the most: The Mona Lisa and Winged Victory.
After being blown away by the enormity of some of the paintings in the museum, I was a little taken back at the diminutive size of the Mona Lisa in comparison. It was also hard to enjoy her because of the crush of tourists around the painting. However, I did get goosebumps in her presence, and I had a flashback to six months earlier when I was sitting in the college class going crazy and deciding I was going to do this trip. Now I was doing it, and I knew this would always be one of the very special days in my life.
Since kindergarten, art class had always been my favorite class in school, and when I was old enough to learn specific historic artists, Leonardo da Vinci had always been my favorite. There I stood, 23 years old, gazing into his masterpiece that he had painted nearly FIVE HUNDRED years ago! I get goosebumps thinking about it now, thirty years later.
Again, the thoughts of inconsequentiality in a cosmic world timeline flooded my brain. And I had more pieces of art to see that would take me even further back in time!
The Winged Victory of Samothrace, a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, represents the greek goddess Nike (Victory). It dates back to the beginning of the second century BC - almost 2,200 years ago!
It was becoming a little hard to comprehend how old some of these buildings, castles, paintings and sculptures in Europe are.
In contrast to the Mona Lisa, this statue was gigantic!
Winged Victory is nine feet tall, she stands on a nine foot base, and she is located at the top of the main enormous staircase in the museum, so she really soars over everyone who climbs those steps and passes under her wings.
I made it to the top of that staircase, and then, being on the top floor, I found some very thick windows that provided a view of the courtyard and glass pyramid below, and more importantly, the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
The window glass and fading light were not the best conditions to take photos, however, the scene was so special to me that I stopped and made a few photographs by pushing my camera lens right up to the window glass and pushing the shutter button.
Click, click. Click, click, click.
Closing time in the Louvre came much faster than I wanted. Soon I was back outside, on the Champs Elysées Avenue, thankful that I had some photographs to remember my time inside as I gazed back towards the Arc de Triumph at the far end of the avenue.
Then I walked to the Metro station, went down the stairs, and boarded a train that took me back to my next stop - The Eiffel Tower!
Before I close this chapter though, there is a side story about a very powerful experience I had after I entered the Louvre and purchased my ticket.
I wanted to ask about the quickest way find the Mona Lisa, so I approached the information booth. Ahead of me were two stereotypical American women tourists: older, louder, a little obnoxious, and they asked the booth attendant in their southern accents, loud enough for me to hear, in demanding English, “Where’s the Mona Lisa?”
The booth attendant answered in French with a short, curt phrase, and nodded in the direction they should go.
The women walked away, complaining loudly to each other about how rude they thought French people were.
Then it was my turn. Knowing I was a guest in France, and having spent so much time with Olivier, his girlfriend Rachel, and their friends and families, I tried to learn as much French as I could and speak in French as much as possible.
So I asked, in very broken French and with the help of my translation dictionary, “Mademoiselle, I think I have the same question as those women, can you tell me where to find the Mona Lisa, si vous plait.”
The booth attendant, a pretty woman a few years older than me, looked at me, smiled, and replied in PERFECT English, “Yes sir, the easiest route to take to find that painting is…” told me whatever it was, gave me a map of the museum, and finished with a wink.
Since that day, I have alway remembered that a little courtesy and an honest attempt to try to speak the language of wherever I am is often repaid and multiplied.